Smoke billowing after the inter-city Rangpur Express derailed near Ullapara railway station on Thursday, igniting a fire — Collected Another train accident took place in the country on Thursday afternoon, just two days after a tragic crash that claimed 16 lives in Brahmanbaria.
Sources said eight bogies of a Rangpur-bound intercity train derailed at Ullahpara station in Sirajganj and its engine and two bogies caught fire.
Eight out of 14 bogies were off the track when the train, which was coming from Dhaka, was about to enter Ullahpara station around 2:10 pm, they added.
There were no reports of death in the accident, but a few people sustained minor injuries, said the locals.
Additional director general (operations) Miah Jahan and general manager (west) Mihir Kanti Guha also gave similar information on the incident.
But Mr Jahan told the FE that the loss of Bangladesh Railway (BR) in the accident would be significant as the engine and two other bogies of Rangpur Express with oil tank were burnt.
Meanwhile, rail link between Dhaka and the country's north and southwestern regions has remained suspended since the accident.
BR officials said a relief train from Iswardi was working on the spot, but it would take time to restore the rail network between Dhaka and the north.
Firefighters rushed in and doused the flames. Mr Jahan expected that the train service would resume early Friday morning.
A BR source said Thursday's crash occurred half an hour after a meeting ended on train accident at Rail Bhaban.
Railways minister Nurul Islam Sujon called the meeting following the Brahmanbaria accident that took away 16 lives after collision between two inter-city trains.
All administrative officials of BR zonal offices, including east and west general managers, were asked to attend the meeting aiming at taking efforts to stop further train accidents.
"We just came out of the meeting and were taking lunch. But half hour later, we got the news of another accident," an attendee told the FE.
Sources said BR director general Mohammad Shamsuzzaman and high officials rushed to the spot soon after the accident.
Mr Jahan said a departmental enquiry has already been set up to find the cause of the accident.
On July 15, another train accident with a bridal-party carrying microbus at Ullahpara took lives of 10 people, including the newly-wed couple.
On June 24, five people were killed and 67 others hurt after six carriages of Dhaka-bound 'Upaban Express' from Sylhet derailed in Kulaura, Moulvibazar.
This year, a total of 52 train accidents have occurred.
BR experienced a total of 639 train derailments since 2014 which highest among the cause of train accidents.
However, it is yet to receive any report on Wednesday's accident in Brahmanbaria.
Chief mechanical engineer (east) Mizanur Rahman took time for two more days to submit the report.
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